It's Acts chapter 14. I'm actually going to back up to 1350 just to grab our context to help us with this passage this morning. So Acts 1350 we will read down through chapter 14 verse 7 and thus says the word of the Lord but the Jews stirred up the devout and prominent women and the chief men of the city raised up persecution against Paul and Barnabas and expelled them from their region, but they shook off the dust from their feet against them and came to Iconium, and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Now it happened in Iconium that they went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed. But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren.

Therefore they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. And when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews, with their rulers to abuse and stone them, they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derby, cities of Lyconia and to the surrounding region, and they were preaching the gospel there. Let us pray. Our Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for the music that has so tuned our hearts this morning to sing your praise.

Worthy is the lamb upon the throne forever and ever. Lord I thank you that you have brought us to this text this morning. I pray Lord this morning that you would testify to the word of your grace today. Lord that that testimony would come in such power to to change lives and to to reorganize what people are thinking and Lord that you would bring people from death to life that you would take them Lord from being blind in their sin and trespasses and dead in their sin and trespasses to having eyes that see and a heart that beats with flesh, Lord, a heart that is that is alive and ready to receive the Word of God and to become a new creature. Lord, would you create new people here today?

And I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. You may be seated. So in preparing for this passage of Scripture and in considering what was before us, I began to see within this text as it's laid out there for you on your outline the types of gospel proclamation that is well pleasing to the Lord or to God. And I want to read for you again as we get started in this, I want to read for you the calling of Paul and Barnabas or the commissioning of Paul and Barnabas into this ministry in Acts 13 verse two.

The Bible says, as they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, Now separate to me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them. And remember what the Lord told Ananias regarding Saul when he was there on his knees fasting and praying and blind. In Acts 9 15, but the Lord said to him go for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, Kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." You see, Paul's ministry was one that would be marked by difficulties and dangers and great successes as we see even here in our passage this morning. This was well known to Paul.

This was no news to Paul. Paul understood that being called into the ministry was a call to do hard things. It was a call to do things where where some people would be radically transformed as he was and also others would be so angry with you that they would be willing to do to you what they did to your Savior. And so forewarned is forearmed. He went into the ministry knowing this about the calling of God upon his life.

God told Ananias this. Paul understood this and we see that his life played this out, his ministry played this out over and over and over again. McLaren said it was only to a fateful a forecast of what was to be Paul's experience everywhere. The stages are this, preaching in the synagogue, rejection there, appeal to the Gentiles, reception by them, a little nucleus of believers formed, disturbances fomented by the Jews, who swallowed their hatred of the Gentiles by reason of their greater hatred of the apostles, and will riot with heathens though they will not pray nor eat with them." And finally the apostles departure to carry the gospel farther afield. This being the outline we have mainly to consider any special features diversifying it in each case.

So this is what we're seeing. We saw it last time, we're going to see it this time. We're going to see it again and again and again throughout the ministry of the Apostle Paul. He's going to go taking the gospel and the Jews are going to be upset and the Gentiles are going to receive it and then they're going to be so upset that the Jews are going to threaten to kill him or stone him and probably will and do. And then he's going to leave from there and go into another city and continue to preach the Word of God.

The Word of God cannot be bounded. It goes forth. It spreads and the more it is persecuted, the more it spreads. It's almost like, if you will, don't take this the wrong way, like a poison ivy, the more that you attack that thing, it goes further and it spreads and it infects everything. But this effect is wonderful and glorious because it changes lives, it reconstructs history, it changes nations, it changes families, it changes fathers, changes mothers, and it changes children, and it changes the world.

What began with Jesus Christ and his disciples is now as we see in the book of Acts being spread abroad. Calvin said, however harshly they were received in one place, yet do they not yield because they considered that the Lord had called them upon that condition, that they should do their duty though the whole world and Satan say no. Therefore we see that they came not only ready to teach but also armed to enter conflicts that they might courageously proceed in publishing the gospel even through the midst of combats. What did you sign up for? Did you sign up for this?

Were you fully told what all is entailed in believing on the Lord Jesus Christ and becoming a disciple of Him? That actually you would deny yourself and take up your cross and follow Him? Where are you following Him to? Where did Jesus go? Jesus Christ set his face like flint to Jerusalem and he knew what awaited him there.

He went to be persecuted and he went to die upon the cross and he went to be raised from the dead. He went to become victorious over sin and over death and over hell And he is calling us to follow him in persecution and tribulations and possibly even martyrdom. We have seen this throughout the history of the church. Paul knew this. He understood.

In 1 Thessalonians he writes, Therefore when we could no longer endure it, we thought it good to be left in Athens alone and sent Timothy, our brother and minister of God and our fellow laborer in the gospel of Christ, to establish and encourage you concerning your faith that no one should be shaken by these afflictions for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this." Paul understood what awaited him. He understood what was going to happen when you go and you preach the truth of God to people who hate God. He understood the dangers and the perils but he also understood when the blessing of God was upon you that you would be willing to endure hardships and in fact you would be willing to endure anything but what most culture I was that what you did would be pleasing to the Lord and God gives testimony here in this passage and I can't wait to get to it. God's testimony of what they preached, the Word of Grace. But before we get there I want to show you three things, three types of gospel proclamation that is well pleasing to the Lord and I hope that it will be a benefit to you even as we go out today to share the gospel with people as we knock on doors in the neighborhoods and and want to just tell them of the love of God and tell them the gospel tell them that they can be saved from their sins We have the greatest news in the world.

Why would we be nervous? We go to tell the greatest thing ever. Let's go in power, let's go in faith, let's go rejoicing, and let's go expecting that some will hear and believe the gospel. And let's go also expecting that some will be upset with you. Some will tell you to leave.

Some will say go away and don't come back, but I seriously doubt any of them would be so upset with you that they would come with a violent attempt to abuse you and stone you. But with the Apostle Paul and with Barnabas this was the truth and the reality of their ministry. So let us learn from this. Number one, the gospel proclamation that produces converts and contention in verses one and two we see this. It happened in Iconium.

They went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude both of the Jews and of the Greeks believed But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. You know we see in this first the preserving or persevering in the proclamation of the gospel. I read to you the last part of chapter 13 because I wanted you to remember something. I wanted you to remember that they had just left Antioch where they were expelled from that region. The prominent women and the men of that city, they expelled them from that region.

This was not of, you know, we really wish you wouldn't speak that. No, it was a forceful expelling of them out of that area and out of that region, get out of here, we don't want you or your message. And what did they do? Well, they try to find a quiet place to go relax and rest awhile. No, they didn't do that.

They actually went right on to the next city here to Iconium and they persevered. I mentioned it before, it's easy to grow weary in gospel work especially when there is a stout opposition to the message and the messenger of the gospel. Have you ever been in that situation and you think man this is this is tough it is it's hard to continue on doing something when you don't see a whole lot of response or a whole lot of fruit from it. But Paul and Barnabas had reason enough to be discouraged after being expelled from Antioch, but they did not consider that opposition, listen, they did not consider that opposition to be a sign of God's disfavor, but rather a sign that they were bringing the gospel to the right places. You need to understand that when there is opposition that is proof, proof positive, that that's where the gospel is needed.

They need the gospel. When you preach the gospel, you know, I'm going to speak about boldness here in just a moment, it doesn't take great boldness to preach the gospel here because y'all love the gospel, you love the Word of God. I've never had anybody come up to me and say, would you stop preaching the gospel? No one's ever done that to me here. Typically you want to sit down after and talk about the gospel and encourage me with the gospel and we're just full of gospel and I'm thankful for that.

But think about the discouragement that they could have felt in saying, Lord, we've been expelled from this city, we're just doing what you wanted us to do, Lord. We're preaching the gospel to these people and now they're expelling us out of the region. What do we do now? That seemed to never be Paul's mentality. When he was expelled from one place he went to another.

He just spilled out the gospel everywhere he went. It didn't matter what the response was. He just went to the next place and preached the gospel there too. He saw that this is the right place where the gospel was needed and he also had the consolation that many people believed on the Lord Jesus Christ there in Antioch and he had great encouragement. Remember what happened was after he preached in the synagogue there was a whole group of people that followed him afterwards.

Tell us more we want to hear more of this. And so in the midst of being expelled for preaching the gospel, there's still great encouragement in preaching the gospel because he knew that people had been transformed. He knew that their lives had been changed. The true gospel is needed most in two areas where they don't think they need it, the synagogue, and number two where they don't want it, in the city and in the town square. These are these are two places that they don't really want the gospel but you know that it's needed there.

Where they don't think they need it, the Jews didn't think that they needed that in the synagogue. They were the people of the book. They had the they had the canon. They had the Word of God. Why would they need the gospel?

But they sure needed it. They needed it so desperately. And also in the town square, the city square, they didn't need the gospel. We're Greek, we're Gentiles, we have all kinds of gods. We don't need another one.

But those were the two places that Paul continually went to take the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ to them. They did not come to Iconium to rest, but rather to confront yet another place and another people with their need of salvation. They came to proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And so where did they go? They went to the same place they went last time.

They went to the synagogue. They went to the place in which they had the word of God, but they did not understand the word of God. It was common that they did this. Not always did they do this, but It was common that they did this, not always did they do this, but it was common that they did this. Consider their grand success in this last synagogue.

It only makes sense to start there again with hopes of a continued success. Last time the people were saying give us more continue to preach more we want to hear more of this gospel And so now they're going to the next place to hear To hope that the same success would be granted to them and we see that it is now and it happened in Iconium that They went together to the synagogue of the Jews and so spoke that a great multitude, both of Jews and Greeks, believed. What was the result of their message? Man, we're starting off with some really good encouragement here in chapter 14. A great multitude believed.

How I long to see that. I long that every door we knock on this afternoon would believe that they would trust in the Lord Jesus Christ. We so rarely see that. It doesn't mean that we stop doing it. It just means that's where it's needed.

We want to continue, but what is the result here? You know, before we talk about the result of their preaching, I want to note something else. I want to note something about their preaching. The Bible says they so spoke. It struck me as interesting.

They so spoke or they spoke in this manner or in this way. They spoke in such a way that it resulted in a great multitude believing. Now I'm not here to tell you that they had the gift of rhetoric or that they had some special ability to speak in such a way their words were so full of wisdom that their speaking itself produced faith. That's not what I'm saying. But I want you to know that we are here told that they so spoke that a great multitude believed and I want to encourage you, each of you this afternoon, to so speak that people believe that you believe what you're telling them?

You're going to tell them something that's glorious. You should so speak it as if it's glorious. Are you going to go down in the mouth and maybe a little bit timid and a little shy? I'll just tell you about the Lord. Or do you want to so speak that a multitude of people would believe that you believe what you're saying?

Do you believe what you're saying? Do you believe the things that we just sang? Do you believe what the Bible says? Has the gospel radically transformed your life that you can therefore so speak that a great multitude would believe that you believe it? Because that's what happened here.

I believe that's kind of the idea behind what he's saying here. They so spoke it. They spoke in this manner. Again not to give the glory to the apostles and their ability to speak because we do know that it is only through the working of the Holy Spirit of God through the preaching of the Word and the proclamation of the gospel that people believe. But I do want us to know that if people don't believe you believe it they will most likely not believe it either.

Do you believe the gospel? Now the result, as I said a great multitude believe this gospel. What an encouragement this must have been to Paul and Barnabas as they just got expelled from the city and they have these here who are believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. They've been run out of Antioch and the power of the gospel was now being seen not only in people believing but even more so by a great multitude believing. How encouraging it is when you have one convert.

Hey we praise God for one convert. Absolutely, that's an eternal soul. How much more encouraged are we when we see a great multitude come together to believe? And that's what God was doing in this synagogue here and in this town. A great multitude was believing, both of Jews and of Greeks, and God was working faith in this multitude to bring them from the point of unbelief to belief, a point of death to life.

Now don't just read over this. A great multitude believed. You know it's easy to read that and say well that's good but I want you to think about something friends. This is a miracle. You know we here in a moment we're going to see signs and wonders.

There was a greater miracle than the signs and wonders that would come in just a few moments. In verse 1 is the greatest miracle. The greatest miracle in these verses is that a great multitude believed. That's the greatest miracle in this passage. A great multitude believed.

I want you to think about it. God just opened the eyes of the blind. God just raised a multitude from the dead. He just did heart surgery and replaced a stone-cold heart with a heart-beating flesh. He just rescued a soul that was hellbound.

This is not a read over statement. This isn't a passage or a phrase that we just pass over and say, boy, that was good. This is one that should stop us in our tracks and say, what was God doing? Think about the power that was just exhibited upon this congregation. A great multitude believed.

God had just redeemed a multitude of people. Again, these Jews and Gentiles were now both one new man in Christ. The middle wall of separation had been taken down and they had been redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. They had seen their Messiah as Jesus Christ the Lord and they were forever changed. Where are those who gladly receive the word?

This was not the only response of gladly receiving of the word. We see though that this great multitude of Jews and Greeks believed in what an amazing miracle that was. In verse 2 however we see the other side of the coin. Remember God is pleased, gospel proclamation that pleases the Lord. It not only produces converts but it also produces contentions.

I found that when the gospel is proclaimed in truth not only do people believe but also people get upset. I find that when people are trying to you know to put sugarcoat the gospel and water down the gospel and make the gospel palatable for everyone that there actually is no gospel and there's no contention. Jesus Christ said, I came not to bring peace but a sword. It was read this morning. He'd come to set a father against his children.

Children would even would even put their parents to death because of the gospel. So Jesus Christ came to call us to preach a gospel that would produce contentions. Not that we would be contentious, not that we would be the offense. Hey, we have enough bad about us that we would call as offense, okay? We can come off as halty and arrogant and prideful and all the other stuff.

There's all kinds of ways that we can make people upset. When we're taking the gospel, Don't let it be you or your personality or your pride or your condescension be the offense. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is offensive enough to lost people. Just let the gospel be the offense. Let the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ do that great work of causing contention.

You see here we see that some gladly receive the Word and there will also be those who reject the Word of God. I spoke about this last week and though there are some people even here today who were also here last week and you remember last week I said you have come to a point of decision you're going to come to the point in the preaching of the gospel last week that you there is no neutral ground there is no place to stay where you say I'm just going to be in between on this decision. You are either believing on the Lord Jesus Christ or you are not believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. You're either accepting Him or you're rejecting Him. There's no middle ground here where you can just say, you know what, I'm happy for you for believing, I understand why you don't believe, and I'm just gonna ride the middle road.

There is no middle road. And yet here we are again. Some of you last week rejected and said, I do not believe the gospel. But the grace of God has sustained you until this week. Have you ever considered this?

The grace of God has sustained you through yet another week and he has placed you right here right now before the same point of decision that Jesus Christ is calling you to believe on him. I am calling you, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. Young people listen up, Jesus Christ has called you to a point, this point right now. Today is the day of salvation. Here you are.

You stand before the Word of God. What will you do with it? Will you believe on the Lord Jesus Christ or will you continue to to go on in your unbelief? Do not reject Him. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ today and the Bible says you shall be saved.

You see these who rejected the word of God verse 2 but the unbelieving Jews what did they do it you know unbelief does not remain neutral. People who are in unbelief do not just let go and let you do your thing. There is a great offense to unbelievers from those who are believers. It is an offense to what to what extent to the extent that the response of them was these unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. You see unbelievers respond in a couple of ways and this is one of them.

Inevitably when you are faced with the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, if that gospel continues to press upon the unbeliever, it will move them to contention. They will not allow you unabated to continue to press the gospel whether that be to an individual, whether that be to a family, or whether that be to a community. If you continue to press this issue there will be contention. You need to know that. You know it's amazing to me just how energizing unbelief can be in the fight against the gospel.

Think about this the the energy that that was that was stirred up within the Jews so that they would stir up the Gentiles. They wanted to cause a rebellion in a sense. They wanted to cause people to be so upset in their minds that they would withstand these brethren, these Paul and Barnabas and others. It doesn't only mention Paul and Barnabas here, but it says the brethren. They wanted to stir them up against them.

The unbelieving can rarely be quiet or inactive in the face of people believing the gospel. They're not okay with that. The problem is, is too often believers are okay with unbelievers remaining in that state. Let's don't be okay with that. Let's no longer be okay with unbelievers remaining in that state.

You know the unbelievers are not okay with us continuing to press the gospel. Let's don't be okay with stopping preaching the gospel. Let's continue to preach the gospel. You know, it's amazing just how much an unbelieving Jew hated the gospel. I think that one of the things that they hated the most about the gospel was this.

It put both Jew and Gentile in the same condition and they were demanded to make the same decision. What I mean by that is the gospel commands both Jew and Gentile to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the Jews did not like to think of themselves as as equal with Gentiles. The only Gentile they liked was one that used to be a Gentile and was now a proselyte. That was the only Gentile they liked.

And for Paul and Barnabas to come into this situation and tell them, you all need to repent. You all are wrong with God. The only hope for a Jew is Jesus. The only hope for a Gentile is Jesus. They both need Jesus Christ.

That's what the Apostle Paul was telling us in the book of Ephesians. He's going to make the mystery of the Gospel is that Jesus Christ came to break down the middle wall of partition and to take the Jew and the Gentile and make one new man. That new man is a Christian in Jesus Christ. That is the way of salvation. But their unbelieving response was to get really worked up over this thing.

Any form of religion that would put the Jew in the same boat as the Gentile was repulsive to them and they were very upset by it. You know it's one thing for Gentiles to become like them But it is totally another thing to tell the Jews that they must be saved in the same way as them. And this was what riled them up. You know, at the same time, they were willing to join forces with the Gentiles to resist, yet again, these preachers of the gospel, but they were not willing to repent and believe on the gospel. You know, as McLaren noted earlier, the Jew will riot with heathens though they will not pray nor eat with them.

And here we see it in this case here. This is often the case. The enemy of my enemy is my friend is how they consider it. For a little while anyway. You know they stirred up the Gentiles.

This is obviously those unbelieving Gentiles that that had not believed the gospel. We have a mixed crowd here. We have some believing and some unbelieving and they poisoned their minds. They stirred them up to the extent they poisoned their minds and caused them to dislike, that's an understatement, caused them to dislike and then bitter their souls against these people. Their minds here is the idea of a soul of a person, of the life of a person.

It was stirred up into the depths of that person and who they were and they so hated the gospel that they were willing to do something about those who preach the gospel. But secondly, what type of gospel proclamation is God pleased with? In verses 3 and 4, the gospel proclamation that exalts the grace of God is the type of gospel proclamation that the Lord is pleased with. God is not pleased with a works-based gospel, nor is he pleased with an antinomian gospel. He's pleased with a grace-filled gospel.

And I wanna show you this, this is really astounding. Therefore, they stayed there a long time, speaking boldly in the Lord, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, granting signs and wonders to be done by their hands. But the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles." You know, I'm struck by this. You know how my mind works. I've shared it with you many times about the interesting things I read in the scriptures.

Therefore, they stayed there a long time. Here they were. They had a whole group of Jews stirring up the Gentiles. They were poisoning their minds against them and their false thought was, hey, I think we'll stay a while. How do you feel about that when somebody stirs up a crowd against you and you're like, okay, I'm going home.

I'm going back to wherever it was I was from. I'm leaving there. Not the Apostles, not these brethren here. These brethren here says, you know what I think I'm going to, where's the nearest hotel? I think I'll stay here.

I'm going to pull out my camp chair and relax for a little while and continue to preach the gospel to this town. They didn't run from this. They actually decided, hey, let's plant a flag right here. Let's just say this is our place. This is the place that we're going to continue to preach the gospel until you run us out of town.

We're going to continue to do that. I don't care how you feel about it. I'm going to continue to proclaim the gospel to you. The Jews stirred them up, but the Gentiles came against them, but not only against them against the brethren. You know I was I was thinking about this that this is instructive in the sense that though there was great resistance to the preaching of the word that it did not hinder them from continuing to preach it.

And they even said, I want to stay here. How do you feel about resistance to the gospel? Does it make you want to stay there? It's difficult, isn't it? The natural man does not like that kind of conflict.

And I don't think it's like, I don't think it's the point of them liking conflict as much as they loved Jesus Christ and they were compelled. I think it had to do with the fact that a great multitude just believed and these Jews were stirring up and poisoning. How do you poison somebody's mind? With bad doctrine. They had bad doctrine that they were poisoning the mind with.

They were defaming and blaspheming just like the last town. And they were telling them that these apostles and these brethren were liars and that they were blaspheming and that they were wrong. And Paul said, no, we're going to stay here and we're going to help this multitude that just believed so that they would understand the true gospel, that they would understand true doctrine, that they would be edified and built up in the cause of Christ. Because he knew just like in the last city and we'll see this later on when they come back they're going to check on the brethren they're going to appoint elders in these same cities where they're being run out of town. And so they wanted to know that these believers were established in sound doctrine.

So they stayed. They stayed a long time. They were undaunted. John Gill says, undaunted and not discouraged at the treatment that they met with but continued speaking boldly in the Lord using great freedom of speech and showing great courage and intrepidity of mind speaking out without fear the doctrines of the gospel in the name of the Lord and depending upon his strength and assistance. That's what we need to do today when we go out we're not depending upon our own strength brothers and sisters.

We must go depending upon the strength of the Lord. It is only through his strength that we can be victorious and ultimately that Christ would be honored and glorified. But it says here that they were speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. As I mentioned to you earlier, it doesn't take great boldness to preach the gospel here. Hey, you're my friends, you love me, you love the gospel.

This is easy preaching. Hard preaching is when you get out where they don't want to hear what you have to say. I've said things here in this church that most people would want to stone me over. And you all say thank you can you give me some more next week. You all love the gospel it's beautiful.

But here these men had to speak the word with boldness. You know whenever you see the apostle speaking boldly I believe he's telling us something is that boldness was needed in order to speak. It was somewhat like Paul was telling Timothy in 2 Timothy. He says, therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands for God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind." Why did Paul tell Timothy that? I think it's clear.

I think Timothy had a temptation to timidity. I believe that there was maybe a weakness in him that he had to overcome. And Paul was encouraging him, that's what he says. He's stirring him up, he's wanting to give him encouragement. God did not give you a spirit of fear.

God gives you a spirit of power and of a sound mind. That's what God gives and of love. And therefore because of this great love and sound mind and the power and no fear, they stayed there a long time. But guess what? It took boldness to stay there a long time.

It wasn't easy street, it wasn't vacation, it was something that was difficult. And so this next part is something that just astounds me as we read in verse 3. Look at what he says, Therefore they stayed there a long time speaking boldly in the Lord who, now speaking about God, who was bearing witness to the word of his grace. So who was bearing witness to the word of his grace? God was bearing witness to the word of his grace.

Who was preaching the word of his grace? Well Paul and Barnabas and apparently some brethren were preaching the word of his grace. God was bearing witness to the preaching of Paul and Barnabas and the brethren. Now I don't know about you. That's encouraging to me in a tremendous way to think that God would give testimony and bear witness to the message being preached.

That's the goal of my life is that when I stand to proclaim the gospel that God would be pleased with everything that I say. People say you get nervous when you preach. Yes and no. I'm not nervous with you all. I don't care what you think to some degree.

I do care what you think but I don't to some degree. But what terrifies me is this. Is God pleased with what I said? I don't care if the whole city's angry at me, is God pleased with what I said and that's the way we all should be. But think about this, God gives us little glimpse of heaven looking down upon earth and he's saying here that who was bearing witness to the word of his grace, he bore witness to it because they were rightfully proclaiming the word of his grace.

They weren't preaching legalism. They weren't preaching antinomianism. They were preaching the word of his grace. They weren't off on the right or the left. They were preaching the word of his grace.

They weren't off on the on the right or the left. They were preaching the word of his grace. They were in neither ditch. Isn't that wonderful? I wish I could be there.

Seems like always I'm getting a wheel off in one of the ditches and I have to be careful. I want to preach the word of his grace. I want to be straight down the middle. I want to proclaim the gospel to such an extent that God would be pleased to give witness to it. Think about that.

God was not absent in their ministry. He was fully engaged, he was fully active, he knew what was going on in the situation, he was not just watching what was happening but he was actively engaged in what was happening. When you're proclaiming the gospel and in fact we know this in everything that you do God is there. He's actively engaged in what you're doing. He's hearing what you're saying.

He's equipping you for what you're doing And here he gives us this witness bearing, that statement and I want to say this in the most proper way I can, it's almost as if God was saying Amen to their message. But he could do that because they were rightly proclaiming his message. They were staying in line. They didn't get off script. They were right down the middle and God said amen.

God was bearing witness to his word of grace that was coming forth out of their mouth and that my friends is my greatest desire that I would proclaim only what God would have me to say and to do it boldly to do it accurately and do it pleasingly to the Lord would God bear witness to my message today? And will he bear witness to yours as you go forth and proclaim the gospel? Will he bear witness to it? You know I'm not asking for signs and wonders to be done this morning, but to be assured that all that I say is pleasing to the Lord. I believe that the key to this, even apart from signs and wonders, is to always preach the word of his grace.

I want to make much of this the word of his grace. The gospel is the gospel of grace. It's not the gospel of works, it's not be good, it's not do enough and you can be saved. That's no gospel at all. What good news is that?

If you can be good enough to be received and accepted by God, where's the good news in that? Where's the boasting in that? You have no ability to do such a thing and nor do I. And nor is it a gospel of hyper grace if you will in the sense of I can do anything and it matters not because I have been redeemed. That's no gospel at all either.

That's blasphemy. You see the gospel is the gospel of grace. It's the gospel again not of works to be saved but rather to believe and be saved. Believe on the good works of Jesus Christ and be saved. You're believing in works but just not yours.

It's the grace of God through Jesus Christ. It's the gospel of grace. Now in this case here he bore witness to the word of grace spoken by Paul and Barnabas by granting signs and wonders to be done by their hand. It is as if God was saying to them, yes this is the message that I wanted proclaimed here. This is the word of grace, this is the gospel of grace, and I'm gonna prove it and I'm gonna validate what they're saying to you and he granted signs and wonders he didn't even name what they are we see them later on in in chapter 14 we've seen them before and healing people who were lame and sick and blind and deaf and all sorts of things God did in testifying to what it was that was being spoken.

The signs and wonders, what is the place of this? Their signs and wonders are there to accompany the preaching of the word. They don't come apart from it. If you're ever in a place where you just are seeing signs and wonders and no word, run. The signs and wonders were validating the word.

They were there to put a stamp of God's approval upon that word. They accompanied the word. But what's the purpose of them again? It's a validation. Calvin says that the Lord gave witness to the gospel in miracles, for it showeth the true use of miracles.

That was the purpose of them is to validate it. John Gill has much to say but I won't go there now at this point. I want to move on into the results of this. What are the results of the signs and wonders? It does not say that as a result of these signs and wonders that many more believed.

When did the people believe? When did the great multitude believe? Before the signs and wonders or after? It seems that they all believed before. You see the signs and wonders were not there to produce salvation.

Signs and wonders cannot convert someone. Oh if they could would there not be many more converts? Think about the soldiers standing at the tomb of Jesus Christ. If anyone would become a believer when some miracle took place, it would have been those men who stood there, who saw the angels, who saw the resurrected Jesus Christ, who were willing to take money to lie about what happened. They knew what happened, yet that miracle did not convert them.

You know, this is what's referenced in the scriptures regarding the rich man in Lazarus. When he pleads with Abraham, send Lazarus back to the five brothers please. He says they have Moses and the prophets. He said no no no but if one goes to them from the dead, no if they do not believe Moses and the prophets, neither will they believe the one raised from the dead. And how true that is.

It happened over and over and over again. Those who saw plainly the signs and wonders and the miracles that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, they still did not believe. You see, signs and wonders work two things at the same time much like the Word of God. In those who believe it builds confidence in that person. It validates what they are hearing but in the unbeliever it makes their heart as hard as flint.

You have these people here, these Jews and these Gentiles, these unbelieving Jews and Gentiles, and no doubt they saw the signs and wonders and they still did not believe. It just made them more angry. All it did was turn up the temperature of the persecution that was coming. It took it to the next level. That's all it did.

They were so hardened in their sin, they refused to believe the gospel. The result was that there was still a divided response after the signs and wonders. In verse 4, the multitude of the city was divided, part sided with the Jews and part with the apostles. How is that possible? They just saw signs and wonders.

Signs and wonders will never convert. Don't seek after signs and wonders. An evil and adulterous generation seeks after signs and wonders. You know, it's better to have division over the truth of the gospel than it is to have unity in a watered down gospel that only seeks to appease the sinful desires of the lost. Give me division with truth any day over unity of emotions and sinful desires.

You see that's what many of these so-called preachers and teachers and churches are saying. They prefer unity at all cost. I will do anything to appease any sinful desire you have and we will be unified. Isn't it amazing those who who profess you know tolerance and love and equality become the most violent when someone stands up and says there is only one truth and there is only one Lord Jesus Christ and he commands all men everywhere to repent and believe on him. And thirdly, the gospel proclamation that pleases the Lord is the gospel proclamation that may leave a city but will never leave the gospel.

They may leave a city but they will never leave the gospel. What do I mean by that? Look in verses 5 through 7, and when a violent attempt was made by both the Gentiles and the Jews with their rulers to abuse and stone them they became aware of it and fled to Lystra and Derbe cities of Likonia and to the surrounding region and they were preaching the gospel there. You see their anger was turned into violence. When sound words will not avail, as is nearly always the case with those who hate God, violence will ensue.

This is what we see still even in our day, it's happened throughout church history, it happens now. Those who hate God in the gospel rarely are willing to continue a battle with someone who has sound reasoning and logic. Hey, let's just have a conversation about the gospel. Let's talk about truth. Let's see what the Word of God says.

That is not tolerated among the tolerant and they become intolerant. Those who hate God and the gospel are not willing to continue that conversation. They know that they cannot withstand the truth of God. The truth of God is like a two-edged sword. It will pierce right down through there and it will reveal all of their sin and all of their falsehood and all of their lies.

And therefore when intimidation fails, violence ensues. They were trying to intimidate them. Remember in verse 2, they stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brethren. That's an intimidation factor. But when that didn't work and they said no we'll plant our flag here we're just going to stay a while.

Violence ensued. They came together when they made a violent attempt to do something in verse 5. It moved from one place to another. We should not be surprised when those who cannot control the desires of their flesh will not be able to control their desire for your flesh. They want a pound of flesh.

That should not be surprising to us. They're going to come after us when we plant our flag, when they're allowed, when there is something that constrains them even now, but when that restraint is off. You know, one of the things I think that shocked me the most regarding all of the Charlie Kirk responses was the flippancy and the way in which people spoke about his death that hated him. Their conscience had been seared as with a hot iron. They no longer were willing to say this is a horrible thing to murder someone for speaking.

They actually rejoiced and celebrated the death of a man on live TV in front of his wife and children and they rejoiced. What happens in a society when that is the case? When restraint is removed and they continue to hate the gospel that you proclaim and hate you because you proclaim it. Well violence ensues. You see they they hate God.

Do not be surprised when they hate you. Those who hated God murdered Jesus Christ and they will if given the opportunity murder you when you stand for Jesus Christ. All of the disciples but John was murdered for his faith. And martyrs throughout history have continued on and the blood of the martyrs as we know has become the seedbed of the church and it just continues to grow. You see when they could stand the truth no longer they sought violence and that's what inevitably comes about.

You know you may think that I'm just up here speaking rhetoric, but I'm really not. I want you to understand something. Let this sink in just for a moment. The whole world watched a man murdered on live TV for his faith. Because he believed on the Lord Jesus Christ and he was not willing to be quiet about it.

That's a sobering reality. They considered his words to be violence and therefore they turned violent. You know they always begin by attacking the character of a person, they want to go after that person and try to find something wrong with that person. But inevitably it ends with physical violence on attacking you as a person. You know it's always amazing when those again who are tolerant and peaceful and loving people want to stand in your face and call you all kinds of names and say all kinds of things about you when you're simply doing something that is so natural and that is speaking.

Just because you speak something they do not like and when that no longer works though when opportunity is given those who hate God they will also hate you in the same manner. Again, this is nothing new. Throughout history we have seen this. So what do we do? How do we respond?

And I want to learn something in these last few verses here of how did the disciples respond to this. It says in verse 6, they became aware of it. What did they become aware of? They became aware that the Gentiles and the Jews and the rulers wanted to abuse them and stone them. They weren't satisfied with just stoning them, they wanted to abuse them first.

That's torture. They wanted to torture them and murder them for speaking. So they became aware of it. I would say this, what is required, wisdom is required. Here's why I say that.

How does one know when to stay and when to flee? In this passage you have both. At one point, therefore, verse three, therefore they stayed there a long time. In verse six, they became aware of it and fled. How do you know when to stay or when to go?

Well, I want you to understand this passage is not unique to the scriptures throughout the book of Acts and in other books of the Bible, we see times when God's people stayed in the face of grave danger and we see other times when people fled in the face of danger. We see times when prison doors were opened and the people and the disciples would leave and go out, we saw that with Peter. We see other times when the doors are flung wide open and they don't go anywhere. Are you looking for an open door? The open door is not always the answer to whether to stay or whether to go because we see both of those in the book of Acts.

One time it opens and he leaves, the next time it opens and he stays and somebody gets saved. So what are you gonna do? Are we gonna build some five steps to knowing how to go and how not to go? I don't see that here. I don't see that in the scriptures.

I don't see that there's a way for us to emphatically say this is how you should always respond in this circumstance or in this certain situation. When do we go? When do we stay? You know, even Paul himself at one point was let down in through a window over a wall in a basket to escape. Was he getting cowardly or what?

No, because what did he do next? He went right down to the next place and started preaching again. He's not cowardly. Leaving and fleeing is not always a sign of cowardice, it might be a sign of wisdom. You know God did not call all those people to run headlong into martyrdom.

He just said don't fear it. There's sometimes when martyrdom comes and you can't do anything about it, it just it comes upon you. But you don't go waving your flag saying, hey, here I am, come murder me. I'm going to run down headlong into the midst of it. So again, how do we know when to stay and when to go?

So here's my answer. There's no simple answer. Don't you hate that when somebody says, hey, what's this hard problem here? And I'm going to tell you the answer. I don't have an answer.

Here's the answer. There's no way to say in this scenario you should always do this. I can't answer that. The Bible doesn't answer that, at least not to my knowledge. Here are two thoughts from scripture that I hope will serve you well.

Okay number one we see in the book of James and James says this my brethren counted all joy when you fall into various trials knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience but let patience have its perfect work that you may be perfect and complete lacking nothing if any of you lacks wisdom let him ask of God who gives to all liberally and without reproach and it will be given him but let him ask in faith with no doubting for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind for let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord he is a double-minded man unstable in all his ways I believe the first thing that we need is wisdom. Let me just say this, I'm not going to place these in importance. We need both of these things that I'm getting ready to share with you. Okay, I just want to correct that. This is not the first in the sense of most important, but just the first that I listed here.

The second thing is this in Luke chapter 4 verse 1 we read this, then Jesus being filled with the Holy Spirit returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness and we know that he was led in the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. So I believe that the answer is that we must ask God for wisdom and we must be filled with the Holy Spirit. If we are ever going to walk in the Spirit and be led by the Spirit, we must be filled with the Spirit. And we know that the Spirit of God is helping us to understand the Word of God. You need to saturate your mind with the Word of God.

This is the wisdom. You need to be filled with wisdom from God and you need to be filled with the Holy Spirit who gives wisdom from God. And so in one certain scenario it might be prudent to stay. I'm gonna plant my flag here. We're gonna preach the gospel here, I don't care how hot it gets.

In another situation it may be prudent to flee. That's exactly what the Apostle Paul and his brethren do here, the brethren do here. They became aware of it and they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyconia and to their surrounding regions. Jeremiah 10 23 says, Oh Lord, I know the way of man is not in himself. It is not in man who walks to direct his own steps.

Lord lead me. Proverbs 3, 5, and 6 beloved verses, trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding in all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your paths. And lastly, no matter what continue to proclaim the gospel whether you stay or go. Whether you stay or go, proclaim the gospel. That's exactly what Paul does here in Barnabas and the brethren.

What does it say? Verse 7, and they were preaching the gospel there. Where? Where they just went to, Lyconia. They left the city because they heard what was going to happen and they fled and they just continued to preach the gospel.

You see, it didn't matter whether they went or whether they stayed. They proclaimed the gospel wherever they were. Even where there were no trouble they preached and if they're in trouble they preached. Before they fled they preached and after they fled they preached. So I think the key is preach.

Proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ to everyone and everywhere that you are. We are not to be afraid to preach and neither should we consider it a virtue to run headlong into martyrdom. You see the type of gospel proclamation that is pleasing to God is the type that never stops no matter where you are. As long as it's the gospel of grace. So brothers and sisters, we have an opportunity today.

Number one, our first opportunity is this. Are you believing on the Lord Jesus Christ, this gospel that has been preached to you today? And if you are, praise God and continue in it. If you have not believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, I call you every person who does not believe to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved. And that's on the authority of God's word.

Secondly, you have an opportunity today as we go out of this place to take the gospel to our neighbors and to the surrounding homes. Let us go knowing these things that I proclaim to you today through the Word of God. The preaching that God is pleased with, it brings converts and contention. Just go ahead and know that. It also comes with God's blessing upon it.

God testifies of the gospel of grace preaching. So make sure that the word that you proclaim is the gospel of grace. That's the preaching that pleases God. And then thirdly wherever you go as you're going when you're here talk about the gospel and when you go out there talk about the gospel and when you go home talk about the gospel and everywhere else you go talk about the gospel because that's the kind of preaching and gospel proclamation that God is well pleased with. So let us go and do as he has called us to do.

Let's pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this day. We thank you for the word of grace that you have given us. I pray, oh God, I pray first and foremost that it has been pleasing in your sight and I also pray secondly Lord that it's been beneficial for this body. Lord that they have taken something this morning and that it is helping them to be a more mature believer, that it has encouraged them and strengthened them in their walk along the way.

And Lord, we thank you, Lord, for allowing us to be here before your word. Thank you, Lord, for the throne of grace that has been wide open to us and we pray in Jesus name. Amen.